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Bay Area theatre reviews with KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky,.Older posts include theatre interviews recorded pre-pandemic. LINK TO ASSORTED LOCAL THEATER & BOOK VENUES

  1. 3d ago

    Review: “North By Northwest” at ACT Toni Rembe Theatre

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “North By Northwest,” adapted and directed by Emma Rice, at ACT Toni Rembe Theatre through October 18, 2026,           TEXT OF REVIEW Along with having to be perfect night after night, live theatre can only rely on sets, costumes and craft to transform time and space to fit the parameters of a script. Sure, these days a lot is computerized, but it’s still hands on, and if something goes wrong, it stays wrong. Directors like Emma Rice look at the limitations of theatre as a canvas, and then see impossible concepts as creative challenges. Whether the moors of “Wuthering Heights” or the fantasy of “The Red Shoes”, she looks to find ways to make it all work and keep audiences entertained. There may be few films less obvious to bring to the stage than Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller, “North By Northwest,” with its ever changing scenery, famous set pieces and convoluted plot. But in her version, now at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theatre through October 18th, it all happens on one stage, with a cast of eight, and a set of revolving doors that turn and twist and rarely stay in one place at one time. The show is introduced and explained by a narrator who frequently breaks the fourth wall. We first meet protagonist Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant in the film), an advertising executive, during a very busy day. He’s in a hotel lobby attempting to catch a waiter’s eye to send a telegram, when suddenly he’s mistaken for someone else, kidnapped by Russian agents — this is the cold war after all — and driven from Manhattan to an estate on Long Island. Emma Rice’s “North By Northwest” is at its most entertaining as a dance spectacle, using elements seemingly torn from Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks as well as acrobatics and ballet. Songs from the era are lip-synched here and there, and the narrator works overtime to keep things from spiraling. Leading the cast is the brilliant Danny Collins as Thornhill, Patricia Kujawska as Eve Kendall, the Eva Marie Saint role, and Katy Owen as the seemingly male narrator. As Emma Rice herself notes, Hitchcock has an extremely male perspective, but if examined carefully, the script has a decidedly feminist twist. Thus the gender switching. Sometimes less is more, and by the second act, the choreography and songs start to drag, and the cleverness fades as the brilliant crop duster scene leads to an incoherent ending on Mount Rushmore. Still, getting there is a lot of fun. “North by Northwest,” adapted and directed by Emma Rice, plays at ACT’s Toni Rembe Theatre through October 18th. For more information you can go to act-sf.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “North By Northwest” at ACT Toni Rembe Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

  2. Sep 16

    Review: “African Stew,” presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, at the Magic

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “African Stew”  a rolling world premiere by Lisa B. Thompson, directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre at the Magic Theatre in Fort Mason through September 27, 2026.     TEXT OF REVIEW Tales of in-laws from opposite sides of the fence go way back, \o Babylonian times with Pyramus and Thisbe, and moving up a few millennia, we’ve got Abie’s Irish Rose in 1922, a sitcom from 1962, The In-Laws from 1979 and more recently Meet the Fockers, all mining comic gold. And now there’s African Stew, a world premiere play from Lorraine Hansberry theatre at the Magic in Fort Mason through September 27th. The play opens, after a brief flashback, as Julie Lawson, a young African American graduate student, is preparing a special Nigerian stew for her new future in-laws, arriving all the way from Lagos. Helping her and setting up the story is her black Latina best friend Trish. It’s easy to see where this is going.

Only not quite. This isn’t Coming to America. Julie’s parents aren’t ghetto. Dad’s a lawyer and mom owns an Africana book store. They’re decidedly upper middle class. And her fiancé King’s parent’s aren’t real kings. He’s a mega-rich CFO, and she travels the world, apparently looking for high fashion clothing. This may be her first time in the US, but he’s spent a lot of time in Dallas. No one is ignorant of the other. But still, when they all meet, sparks will fly. Avoiding cheap jokes, at least most of the time, they bicker, agree, and disagree, one couple versus the other, men at times versus women. Julie and King mostly stay out of it, but then their issues also crop up. I t’s about class, about culture, about baby names, about misconceptions. Women’s issues rear their heads, and maybe some folks have a little too much to drink. Part of the fun is watching the seven actors easily slip into their roles, most notably Margo Hall, who shines as the bookstore owning wife, Titus VanHook is a delight as the haughty African CEO, and then there’s Carla Gallando as Julie’s best friend, who spends the entire play just doing her own thing. Watching each of their reactions to what the others are doing and saying means keeping one’s focus on everyone at once. African Stew still needs some work, the play runs too long. and could use a more incisive ending. But when the show hits on contemporary black issues that are rarely encountered in the mainstream world, it soars. Not to sound cliched, but African Stew is, more often than not, a delicious entree. African Stew, presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, plays at the Magic in Fort Mason Center through September 27th, for more information you can go to lhtsf.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “African Stew,” presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, at the Magic appeared first on KPFA.

  3. Sep 14

    Review: “The Cook” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “The Cook” by Eduardo Machado, at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through October 11, 2026.       TEXT OF REVIEW: Over the past seventy years, Cuba has gone through a remarkable series of changes. First there was the Batista coup overthrowing the 1940 Constitution, leading to the corruption and repression of the mafia years. Then came the Cuban revolution, with its promise of democracy and freedom. Then Castro’s socialist government offering free medical care education, along with censorship and repression. Then came the blockade, shortages and eventually a loosening. Some of those changes are evident in Eduardo Machado’’s heartfelt and emotionally rewarding play, originally produced in 2003, The Cook, now at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through October 11th. Gladys has been a cook in a very wealthy Havana home since she was thirteen. It is the end of December 1958, and she and her boyfriend Carlos, the family chauffeur and an avid Communist, are presenting a New Years Eve party for Havana’s elite, when suddenly her mistress, Adria, announces that she and her husband are immediately leaving the country, going into exile. Batista has fled, the revolution has been won. But they’ll be back, she says, and Gladys must keep the house safe for their return. The play takes us through two more eras in Cuba’s history, as seen through Gladys’ eyes and the eyes of others as they cope with the country’s changing economic and social landscape. For playwright Eduardo Machado, it was the food and a conversation with a real life Gladys that inspired him to sit down and write about Cuba through the lens of this one person and one kitchen. Gladys in the play is no communist, barely a revolutionary. Adria, she thinks, is her friend, not merely her employer. And while others are excited to be free of tyranny, it is her world that’s been thrown upside down. Revolutions have emotional consequences, some obvious, some subtle, and some, ultimately, eye-opening. Homophobia, misogyny and racism play their own roles after Castro comes to power. Not everything changes. The Cook is anchored in superb performances, particularly that of Yesenia Iglesias as Gladys, Gisela Chipe in a double role, and Daniel Duque-Estrada as Carlos. The gorgeous scenic design is by Tanya Orellano. The Cook operates on many levels, from the personal to the political, It’s often moving and always informative, and is a welcome addition to the Bay Area theatre scene. The Cook by Eduardo Machado, directed by David Mendizabel, (Mend-di-ZA-bel) plays at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theatre through October 11th. For more information you can go to berkeley rep.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “The Cook” at Berkeley Rep Peets Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

  4. Sep 3

    Review: “The White Chip” at Marin Theatre

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “The White Chip” by Sean Daniels, directed by Lance Gardner, at Marin Theatre through September 20, 2026.               TEXT OF REVIEW: We live in a world of addiction. Drugs, tobacco, overeating, even mindless scrolling. But the granddaddy of all addictions, going back millennia, is of course alcoholism. 

It’s been a long time since the drunken comedy of people like W.C. Fields or even Dean Martin, and the serious stuff, about actual alcoholism, is always very serious. So it’s a surprise and maybe a shock to see a comedy about the subject, The White Chip by Sean Daniels, now at Marin Theatre through September 20th, which tells a largely autobiographical story about a young theatre director who is, until he isn’t, a very functioning drunk. The White Chip sets itself up as a memory play, with Steven, our narrator, telling us how he first meets alcohol as a teenager, how the drinking continues ,while work afterward as a theatre director and artistic director collide with his growing love of the bottle. 

The White Chip itself refers to a poker-chip given at AA meetings to those who first show up, or to those coming back after a relapse. A new beginning, they say, a fresh start. And over the course of the play, Steven McAlister gets a lot of them. One of the primary methods of overcoming alcohol is to trust in a higher power. But what if you’re an atheist? What if religion makes you run in the opposite direction, as it does for the ex-Mormon Steven? How can you get better if the only cure is another addiction, an addiction to world of wishes and prayers? 

Ben Clark is pitch-perfect as Steven, narrator and participant in his life story. Two castmates play all the characters around him, Lyndsy Kail taking all the women’s roles, most affecting as Steven’s mother , and Danny Shae all the male roles, often escaping his usual Bay Area typecasting.

The narration is serious and sardonic, always self-aware, and the action and dialogue reflect the fact that, as the playwright himself once noted, the antics of alcoholics can often be silly and sidesplittingly funny. There’s hilarity in the tragedy. The White Chip feels so real, and Sean Daniels is so truthful in his writing, that the play could be triggering for those who have beaten addiction. And while many of us have never been in Steven’s shoes, we’ve all witnessed Stevens in our lives. No matter who you are, this is a production that hits very close to home. The White Chip by Sean Daniels, directed by Lance Gardner, plays at Marin Theatre through September 20th. For more information you can go to marintheatre.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “The White Chip” at Marin Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

  5. Aug 18

    Review: “R.O.I. (Return on Investment)” at San Francisco Playhouse Creativity Theatre

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “R.O.I. (Return on Investment) by Aaron Loeb, directed by Jonathan Moscone, a San Francisco Playhouse production at Creativity Theatre.       TEXT OF REVIEW: Back just a few short years ago, despite the warning dystopias of Skynet in the Terminator films and HAL in 2001, most believed technology had the power to turn this planet into a utopia. That was especially true since the tech titans seemed so idealistic. Elon Musk and his electric cars, Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, the optimism of Steve Jobs. But times have changed. How does the horror of monopoly capitalism engage with the sunniness of a brighter tomorrow? These are heavy questions, which are subsumed inside the interpersonal power struggles that make up the bulk of the funny and profound World Premiere play, ROI, Return on Investment by Aaron Loeb, directed by Jonathan Moscone, now a San Francisco Playhouse production at the Creativity Theatre through September 5th. The Montrose Fund links investors with technology projects, and May Lee, the protege of the Fund’s founder, Paul Montrose, thinks she’s found her golden goose. It’s a young biotech genius named Willa McGovern, who explains she’s found the way to map individual genetic signs that point directly to cancer and alzheimers, and to then engineer genetic changes to cure both maladies. And Willa is the real deal. Over the course of the play we follow the three over a period of months and years as they weave their own scenarios and objectives, sometimes in tandem but often putting their individual priorities first. Which creates the kind of conflict that makes for thrilling theatre. Anthony Fusco has a field day as the gadget and toy happy Paul, Sharon Shao gives her all as the idealistic and snarky May, and Lauren English plays it both ways as the enigmatic Willa, the three-person chemistry sparking laughs and sometimes shocks as they play off each other. Also mention should be made of the excellent set design, lighting and sound.

Issues involving ethics, late stage capitalism, the power of the internet, the joy and horror of technology, its toys and surveillance mechanisms all rise inside the show, usually yielding more questions than answers. There’s always subtext behind the laughs. R.O.I. turns sober in its last scenes, a common trait of comedies these days, and it’s possible to argue with the resolution. But it’s the best new comedy to emerge from the Bay Area since the pandemic, and well worth seeing. R.O.I., Return On Investment by Aaron Loeb, directed by Jonathan Moscone, a San Francisco Playhouse production, plays at the Creativity Theatre through September 5th. For more information, go to sfplayhouse.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “R.O.I. (Return on Investment)” at San Francisco Playhouse Creativity Theatre appeared first on KPFA.

  6. Aug 12

    Review: “Orpheus Descending” at Oakland Theatre Project

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Orpheus Descending” by Tennessee Williams, at Oakland Theatre Project through August 23, 2026.         Text of Review: Over the course of his career, Tennessee Williams wrote thirty full length plays and a host of one-acts. Yet looking at the list of plays produced by local and regional theaters, you’d think he only wrote The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. While it’s true there was a fall off in quality after 1965, and some of the early works were sketchy, there’s still quite a roster of plays that hardly ever get revived outside of New York. So it’s a kind of gift that Orpheus Descending is now playing at Oakland Theatre Project through August 23rd. 

The play has a curious and confusing history. A rewrite of one of Williams’ early plays, Battle of Angels, Orpheus Descending opened on Broadway in 1957 in the midst of Williams’ most creative period. It received mixed to negative reviews, and closed quickly, later becoming a Brando film titled The Fugitive Kind, which had no relationship to a same-titled early Williams play, and was later revived on Broadway in 1989 with Vanessa Redgrave, which was filmed but isn’t available streaming. Orpheus Descending opens in a dry goods store in a small white town in the South in the 1950s when Val, a drifter whose car has broken down, comes into the emporium and throws everyone in the town into turmoil, particularly Lady, wife of the store’s ill-tempered invalid owner. A romance, doomed of course, ensues. We do have to wait to meet them after a long expository duet from two lesser characters that Williams should have cut seventy years ago. 

O rpheus Descending is, as one critic noted for a recent revival, pure over the top Southern Gothic, verging on fantasy and brain rattling hysteria. It’s both Williams at his best, and at his most histrionic. This production, directed by Will Detlefsen, shows the play at its best through some of the actors, particularly Natalie Pasquinelli as Carol and Lisa Ramirez in the role of Lady. But we never understand Val’s attraction to Lady and the play suffers from the theatre’s configuration, forcing actors to shout from across the horizontal space, turning the play often into a one-note yelling spree. And some directorial choices that sounded good in theory just don’t work. But in a world of half-baked world premieres and undeserved Pulitzers, any Tennessee Williams is a treat, and when this production works, and it does work here and there, and when Williams is on a roll, it’s theatre as its meant to be seen. Orpheus Descending plays at Oakland Theatre Project through August 23rd. For more information go to oakland theatreproject. org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area Theatre for KPFA. The post Review: “Orpheus Descending” at Oakland Theatre Project appeared first on KPFA.

  7. Jul 24

    Review: “Hairspray” at San Francisco Playhouse

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews the musical “Hairspray” directed by Bill English, at San Francisco Playhouse through September 12, 2026.           Text of Review: The Golden Age of the Broadway musical faded in the sixties, the age of Sondheim and the pop opera died before the new century, and since then, the Great White Way has atrophied into a world of corporate jukeboxes, pointless renderings of hit movies, little shows that could, and hits that never close. And then there’s 2003’s Hairspray, now in a fine production at San Francisco Playhouse through September 12th. It’s not as if the show vanished; it pops up frequently in community theaters these days, filling in the gaps between the spelling bee Audrey II, Hedwig and a host of Sondheims. But without a Broadway revival, Hairspray never inserted itself into the canon. And it should, particularly now. John Waters’ most mainstream film from 1988 was a tribute to the outsiders, outcasts and freaks he grew up with in Baltimore, those very people inhabiting his earlier films, notably his muse, the drag superstar Divine, Harris Glen Milstead, cast as Edna Turnblad, mother of the full figured Tracy Turnblad. The film was a love letter to the way song and dance could overcome racism, body-shaming and all the biases that had control of America in 1962. Hairspray, the musical, with tuneful and memorable songs by Marc Shaiman, stayed true to the politics, and kept memories of Divine alive by always casting Edna in drag, first with Harvey Fierstein and later John Travolta. Hairspray was the sweetest of all John Waters films, and that sweetness is reflected in the musical itself, and particularly in this production. It’s seen here in the superb performance of Ella Ruth Francis, who embodies Tracy with as much joy, energy and voice as any performer in the role on Broadway or off. She is Tracy Turnblad . Other standouts include Jordan Covington as Seaweed, whose body movement in every scene is a joy to behold. And there’s Jeanine Anderson as a gospel voiced Motormouth Maybelle and Alison Ewing as the amusingly villainous Velma Van Tussle. Jonathan Chisolm as Edna takes a backseat during most of the show, only stepping out in the final scenes. The casting of Edna may have once been a tribute to Divine, but today there’s a political subtext that enhances the show’s theme of inclusion. One caveat: the decibel level toward the end is a bit off the charts, so be forewarned. But mostly it’s just a grand night in the theatre, a musical to enjoy and savor. Hairspray, directed by Bill English, plays at San Francisco Playhouse through September 12th. For more information, you can go to sfplayhouse.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.     The post Review: “Hairspray” at San Francisco Playhouse appeared first on KPFA.

  8. Jul 13

    Review: “The Employee Dharma Handbook” at TheatreWorks Palo Alto

    KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “The Employee Dhama Handbook: a world premiere play by Geetha Reddy at TheatreWorks Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto through August 2, 2026.       TEXT OF REVIEW Discrimination comes at you in many ways. Racial bigotry. Religious fanaticism. Gender and disabled bias. Homophobia. Fat-shaming, agism. The list lengthens as you expand to other cultures. There’s the whole tribal thing too. Then there’s the caste system from India. Banned in 1950, it still lives on under the surface.Explaining caste in detail takes too long, but some jobs simply can’t go to members of one caste or another. The Brahmin are on top; Dalits at the bottom. But has the system spread to America, and if it has, how does it manifest? That question, and the relationship of that particular bias to the caste system of corporations lies at the heart of The Employee Dharma Handbook, a new play by Geetha Reddy, at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto through August 2nd. The focus is on a handful of workers at a fictional aerospace company; they’re building a rocket to Jupiter, and if it all works out, the whole crew will become rich. But Leela, a young Indian scientist born in the U.S., has just been passed over by her boss, Khrish, for an important promotion that instead went to another Indian, Baasu, who himself understands it should have gone to Leela. If this isn’t resolved, there is no team. Enter Val, the black HR director, no stranger to bias herself, investigating the matter. Was the problem Leela’s gender? Or something else? Khrish is Brahmin,. So is Baasu. Leela is not. No, no, says Khrish, it’s not like that at all. But maybe it is. The Employee Dharma Handbook often doesn’t know what kind of play it wants to be. Serious critique? Farce? Comedy-drama? The capitalism and caste dichotomy unclear. The comedy not as funny as it needs to be. 

As a world premiere it needs work. But the elements are there. Each character, at one point or other, becomes facilitator, accuser, victim, winner and loser. The cast handles the role switching well, particularly Kathryn Smith-McGlynn as Val and Kunal Dudhecker as Baasu. As the relationships twist and turn, we see a playwright at the top of her game.. There comes a point toward the end where The Employee Dharma Handbook goes off the rails, and in order to make a point, the characters become pawns of the playwright. Still, the play is often a thoughtful, funny, and very original ride with hopefully a bright future. The Employee Dharma Handbook by Geetha Reddy plays at TheatreWorks Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, and for more information, you can go to theatre works.org. Im Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.   The post Review: “The Employee Dharma Handbook” at TheatreWorks Palo Alto appeared first on KPFA.

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Bay Area theatre reviews with KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky,.Older posts include theatre interviews recorded pre-pandemic. LINK TO ASSORTED LOCAL THEATER & BOOK VENUES

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  • Creator
    KPFA
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
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    © 2026KPFA 312700
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